New Details Revealed In Lawsuit Against Rogers County Businessman

Phil Albert's lawyers compare the dispute between him and his former company Pelco Structural as a bitter business divorce.

Wednesday, November 27th 2019, 7:37 pm

By: Emory Bryan


There's a lot of detail in a lawsuit accusing a prominent business leader of embezzling money. Pelco Structural of Claremore, and it's former President, Phil Albert, are suing each other.

Previous Story: Claremore Manufacturer Claims Former President Embezzled $7.4 Million 

Albert's lawyers describe the dispute between him and the company as a bitter business divorce. The company fired him in April, and now he's suing them for wrongful termination. The company is counter suing - claiming he stole millions of dollars by tapping into a wide variety of company accounts.

Pelco is a major manufacturer of steel poles, with major customers all over the country. Despite plenty of sales, their lawsuit claims Albert's spending, had Pelco borrowing money it should have had in the bank.

The company claims since January 2010 - Albert spent $7.4 million dollars without authorization. An audit found $169,000 spent on fine dining, and flowers and some money spent at a casino.

The company claims Albert took $450,000 from a company loan account and spent $169,000 on a company credit card. Pelco claims that over 9 years, unauthorized payments to Albert, just from payroll accounts amounted to $3,373,000.

The lawsuit says when the theft was discovered early this year, Albert was immediately fired. Pelco's only comment now is that Albert "embezzled money from the company and we're suing to get it back."

The lawsuit claims Albert pulled 47 cashiers checks from a company BancFirst account, and another 41 checks from RCB, totaling $330,000.

The company claims politicians and charities got some of the money, as much as $315,000.

Pelco would not comment on why they're suing instead of calling the police. In the lawsuit, the company describes the  $7.4 million dollars as just what they've determined is missing so far.

Emory Bryan

Emory Bryan is a general assignment reporter for News On 6. Emory Bryan joined the News On 6 team in 1994.

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